It was Monday, 5 May 2025 when a crew member started their shift from 3.30pm to 11pm on Fullers360 ferry, after parking their vehicle at Auckland Central’s Downtown car park around 1:30 pm. Little did they know that their recent overseas trip had infected them with the highly contagious disease, measles that has now led to Auckland health authorities on high alert to prevent another deadly outbreak.
Apart from multiple ferry services, infected person’s visit to the car park, a couple of super markets- Woolworths and Pak n Save, Unichem pharmacy, etc are all now declared locations of interest and people are being isolated.
Health New Zealand terms Measles – also known as morbilli and rubeola, as a “very contagious viral illness (that) can also cause serious health problems”. A medical expert and paediatrician, Dr Owen Sinclair goes one step further and believes measles is “nine times more infectious than Covid-19.”
This virus is considered as the “most contagious” as it spreads very easily by breathing in air after a person with measles has sneezed or coughed. Virus stays in the air for hours even after the affected person has left the area.
It also spreads after someone touches contaminated surfaces or items with an infected person’s nose and throat secretions.
People who are not immune through vaccination or previous infection and come into contact with the disease, are about 90 percent likely to become infected.
The highly contagious nature of the disease means makes measles deadly, and about 1 in 3 people who contract measles will need hospital care, says Health New Zealand.
Similar to the present measles case in Auckland, almost all previous outbreaks in our country were result of non-immune travellers bringing the virus from overseas.
The two major measles epidemics here occurred in the 1990s when thousands were infected, hundreds ended up in hospitals, and seven people lost their lives.
There was a measles outbreak in 2019 also, and 775 (35%) of the 2213 reported cases were hospitalised for treatment of complications.
Health New Zealand fears that across New Zealand, there is always high risk of an outbreak as people’s immunity to measles is very low as not enough people are fully immunised against the illness.
The first symptoms of measles are similar to other respiratory illnesses, such as a cold, COVID-19 or flu (influenza) making it difficult initially to know if you have measles.
Symptoms of measles include fever (at least 38°C), cough, runny nose, sore, watery red (or pink) eyes, and sometimes small white spots on the back inner cheek. They start between seven and 18 days after exposure.
A blotchy rash develops 3 to 4 days after the other symptoms. The rash, not usually itchy, appears as pink or red spots or bumps which start on the face/head before spreading down the rest of the body. The rash can last for a week or more.
Measles symptoms usually start within 10 to 14 days after being first exposed to the virus. These can start anytime between 7 to 21 days.
Health issues caused by measles include runny poos (diarrhoea), ear and lung infections and in rare cases, swelling of brain (encephalitis). There is also a longer-term risk of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE), a deadly brain disorder, which develops seven to 10 years after contracting measles, despite seeming to fully recover.
Moreover, subsequent to recovery from measles, immune system is weakened and it can take from a few months to 3 years to fully recover. This means more likely to get sick with other infectious illnesses
